Borussia Mönchengladbach v RB Leipzig preview: Under-fire Rose returns to Borussia Park
| Marco Rose will return to Borussia Park | Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images |
Borussia Mönchengladbach
A fourth-placed finish in the Bundesliga and getting past the Champions League group stage ahead of Inter: Marco Rose’s stay at Gladbach was a resounding success. That was until the early news of a contractual agreement with Borussia Dortmund ruined the end of their 2020-21 season, however.
Since then, Gerardo Seoane is the first coach at the club to stay beyond a season. Despite an underwhelming 14th-placed finish, Roland Virkus and co. decided to go for stability ahead of this season.
Although it seems to be going in a similar route at the start, the former Leverkusen coach is now well settled at Borussia Park. While German international Tim Kleindienst is the main man for Gladbach’s resurgence, Alassane Pléa was their star before the international break after his second hat-trick at Weserstadion.
Gladbach can go past fifth-placed Leipzig with a win on Saturday. They still have to play away at Dortmund and Bayern, but the gap between them and a Champions League spot is currently only five points.
Team News
The hosts will be without their starting goalkeeper and striker. With Moritz Nicolas and Jonas Omlin on the sidelines, the 18-year-old shot-stopper Tiago Pereira Cardoso will play at Borussia Park for the first time.
Meanwhile, Tomáš Čvančara will likely start in place of top-scorer Kleindienst, who is suspended after his injury-time red card in Bremen.
RB Leipzig
A much-needed win at Dortmund put Leipzig back in contention for Champions League qualification. After the international break, Rose now seeks to repeat that success against his other former employers.
But Leipzig are winless away from home in 2025. Coupled with their disastrous Champions League campaign, there is little chance for the 48-year-old coach to stay at the helm for next season. It could all be decided in the coming days if results don’t go their way in the league and cup.
Leipzig will travel to Stuttgart in midweek in hopes of reaching the DFB Pokal final for a fourth time in five years. Before that, a direct duel with a fellow European hopeful would present a big chance to push for better heights in the Bundesliga.
Although they dropped lots of points against smaller teams, Leipzig have a generous schedule list before Bayern and Stuttgart visit RedBull Arena in the final weeks of the season. Despite their lackluster campaign, RB are only three points shy of Mainz and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Team News
In his pre-match conference, Rose stated that most of his players had a decent international break. Additionally, there is a possibility for Yussuf Poulsen returning to the matchday squad.
On the negative side, Xaver Schlager faces another setback after suffering a muscle injury to his left thigh while playing for Austria. Youngsters Antonio Nusa and Assan Ouédraogo will also be unavailable as they hope to return to team training in the coming days.
